10-07-2018, 07:08 PM
"science sometimes can be slow."
Correct and most if not all major instruments used by the MK observatories require about a decade of development from inception to being operational. The downside of that is other things get developed more quickly, computing and detectors for instance, but you have to design an instrument that uses the best technology available at the time. The best option is to design an instrument that can be upgraded, but if you don't know what those upgrades might be, it's a tough thing to achieve.
At UKIRT we're looking at a major upgrade to our wide-field camera using new 4K infrared arrays. It'll be expensive and will likely require half a year of not having the instrument available, but it'll be much cheaper than designing a new instrument and will result in significantly more efficient and sensitive observations.
Correct and most if not all major instruments used by the MK observatories require about a decade of development from inception to being operational. The downside of that is other things get developed more quickly, computing and detectors for instance, but you have to design an instrument that uses the best technology available at the time. The best option is to design an instrument that can be upgraded, but if you don't know what those upgrades might be, it's a tough thing to achieve.
At UKIRT we're looking at a major upgrade to our wide-field camera using new 4K infrared arrays. It'll be expensive and will likely require half a year of not having the instrument available, but it'll be much cheaper than designing a new instrument and will result in significantly more efficient and sensitive observations.